Protective guards for sports activities are becoming increasingly specialized, both with respect to particular sports and for particular areas of the body. Many protective guards are adapted for best use in only one sport. One such protective guard is the conventional knee/elbow guard, which is used in basketball, to protect the knees and elbows of the wearer. The conventional knee guard, however, is not appropriate for other gymnasium sports such as, for instance, volleyball, which usually features much more contact between the player and the gymnasium floor than occurs in basketball. This contact, usually caused by diving attempts to keep the volleyball in play, creates a significant amount of stress on the fabric, and produces such high temperatures that the melting point of the fabric, which typically is nylon, is sometimes exceeded. The fabric in the conventional knee/elbow guard thus typically frays, tears, or otherwise becomes unusable in a short amount of time, and must be replaced.
As far as applicant is aware, prior attempts to solve this problem have concentrated on using more durable materials, such as a heavier fabric perhaps with a roughened exterior surface, and a more durable protective pad, rather than treating existing materials. Applicant is aware of certain technology in a non-related field, dealing with fabric treatment, i.e. U.S. Pat. No. 3,513,842 to Gardner, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,528,417 to Keenen show treatment of fabric to produce an improved dressing for wounds, but to the best of applicant's knowledge, it has not been previously suggested to treat a sporting goods protective article such as a knee/elbow knee guard with a protective material to improve the durability of the article.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide an elbow/knee guard for use in athletic activities which has been treated with a protective material to significantly improve its durability, as well as a process for producing such an article.
It is another object of the present invention that such a product be suitable for use in volleyball and other sports played on a smooth floor, where contact between the article and the floor is common.
It is a further object of the present invention that such a product not be significantly different in weight, use or appearance from conventional products of its general type.
It is yet another object of the present invention that such a process not significantly disrupt conventional manufacturing methods for the article.
It is a still further object of the present invention to produce a protective material which is bondable to fabric and which may be used in a variety of applications.
It is another object of the present invention that such a product be repeatedly washable, without loss of the protective material.
It is an additional object of the present invention that the protective material not interfere with the normal stretch capability of the fabric of the knee/elbow guard to which it is applied.